Motor vehicles are conventionally provided with articulating vent or wing windows located in the area of the front upper corner of the front entry door assemblies. The vent windows provide ventilation and evacuation of stale air from inside the motor vehicle without opening the larger window conventionally mounted in the door.
Vent windows mounted in motor vehicle door assemblies conventionally incorporate pivot mechanisms arranged at or near the top and bottom edges of the vent window. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional motor vehicle vent window assembly wherein vent window 12 is pivotable about pivot axis 15 by means of pivot mechanisms 13 and 14 located near the top and bottom edges, respectively, of vent window 12. The vent window may be enclosed in a metallic or other framework, and window handle and latch means 16 is operatively attached to the vent window and/or its framework. Vent window seal 17 is provided around the periphery of vent window 12 to seal the vent window along its interior peripheral surfaces when the vent window is in the closed position.
Due to the arrangement of vent window pivot mechanisms 13 and 14 and pivot axis 15, the vent window continuously contacts the window seal 17 in the area of the pivot mechanisms during articulation of the vent window between open and closed positions. Interference between the vent window and the vent window seal causes heavy wear and degradation of the vent window seal in the area of the pivot axis. Articulation of the vent window about pivot axis 15 additionally results in interference between pivot mechanisms 13 and 14 and vent window seal 17. Although the vent window seal is designed to prevent leakage of liquids and gases from outside the vent window to the interior of the motor vehicle, use of vent windows of the type described above may result in deterioration of the window seal to the extent that its sealing properties are significantly impaired.
Since the exterior ambient air conditions may be unpleasantly hot, cold, dusty, wet, or the like, it is often desirable to evacuate stale air from the interior of the motor vehicle without introducing a large volume of exterior ambient air into the motor vehicle. Conventional vent window assemblies, such as shown in FIG. 1, promote the inflow of exterior ambient air into the motor vehicle, since at least one edge of the vent window, leading edge 19 or trailing edge 20, projects inwardly from the contour of the motor vehicle door assembly when the vent window is in an open position. For example, if the vent window 12 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by arrow 21, leading edge 19 of the vent window projects inwardly from the contour of the motor vehicle door assembly when the vent window is in an open position. This tends to promote the inflow of exterior ambient air into the motor vehicle. Rotation of the vent window in a clockwise direction causes rear edge 20 to project inwardly from the contour of the motor vehicle door assembly, thereby directing exterior ambient atmosphere into the interior of the motor vehicle without providing any evacuation of the interior air.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an articulating vent window assembly providing enhanced sealing between the vent window and the vent window seal.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide an articulating vent window assembly wherein interference between the vent window and pivot mechanisms and the vent window seal during opening and closing of the vent window is substantially eliminated.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide an articulating vent window assembly wherein the vent window contacts the vent window seal only when the vent window is in a closed and sealed position.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide an articulating vent window assembly which promotes evacuation of stale air from the motor vehicle interior when it is in an open position without directing large volumes of exterior ambient air into the motor vehicle interior.